c/Collapse

Reposted as I didn't follow the original rules.

You know it's bad when a first world nation with rich soil is failing...

“Grieving parents who lost their nine-year-old boy last week say their son died after a severe asthma attack made worse by wildfire smoke engulfing parts of British Columbia.

Amber Vigh said her youngest son, Carter, died in the emergency room with his parents at his side at 7:20 p.m. PT last Tuesday.

"They tried everything ... I just stood there and just told him that I loved him and just to breathe," Amber said in an interview from her home near 100 Mile House, B.C., on Monday.

"This time was just different."

Vigh's death comes as smoke from more than 360 wildfires sends air quality across B.C. plummeting, particularly in central and northern areas of the province.

Government officials and health authorities have warned people in those areas with pre-existing conditions to be cautious, acknowledging the contaminated air can make a person sicker or hasten their death.”

Like it or not, the United States has a big transportation problem. Yeah, cars are fun, but they're also expensive and inefficient, and every rattle under the hood is like a gunshot to your wallet. Planes? Sure, if you like paying for carrying on a snack that doesn't cost $12.95. Public transport in the U.S. is the pits, and if you want to travel a medium-range distance — say, between Boston and New York — for an affordable price, the options aren't pretty.

You know what would fix that particular issue? It's called high-speed rail, and though Americans have been taught to think of bullet trains as sci-fi futurism, they're just a mundane, everyday reality in some parts of the world. And it's been that way for decades, in some cases. While these speedsters zoom from country to country, the United States only falls further and further behind. Here's why the U.S. is struggling with high-speed rail.

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/155798/the-real-reason-the-united-states-has-no-high-speed-rail-network/